Digital HDTV Converter Box Tests, Reviews and News

Digital Television
News - 7-23-2008 - Ten New Digital Converter Boxes Tested
TESTS AND REVIEWS
Best Buy, Circuit City, K-Mart, Radio Shack, Sears
Target, Walmart and Other Popular Boxes Tested

We've Tested Ten New Converter Boxes!
Digital Converter Box Test Objects - All New in Boxes

ALL TEN WERE BOUGHT THEN TESTED IN A FAMILY HOME SETTING.

RETAIL STORE Chain, eBay & On-Line	CONVERTER BOX TYPE Press Name for Factory Specifications	PRICE (M.S.R.P.)	PRESS IMAGE TO ENLARGE AND TO SEE ITS REMOTE
Best Buy	Insignia NS-DXA1 (Same as Zenith DTT900, Next Below)	$59.99
Circuit City	Zenith DTT900 (Same as Insignia NS-DXA1, Above)	$59.99
Sears/K-Mart	Magnavox TB100MG9 THE ONLY PASS THRU MODLE HERE	$49.99
Radio Shack	DigitalStream DTX9900	$59.99
Target	GE 22729 Venturer STB7766G	$79.99 $49.99
Walmart	RCA DTA800	$49.87
eBay	Tivax STB-T9 Access HD DTA1010D THESE TWO ARE THE SAME INSIDE HD WORKS, TIVAX DOESN'T!	$79.97 $49.99
On-Line and Hardware Stores!	Channel Master CM-7000	$69.98

All Qualify for the $40 Converter Box Coupon Program

Hands On Digital Converter Boxes:
What They're Like and How They Feel
Converter Box Test Pieces

Converter Boxes are fun! Imagine a new TV in your living room. That's what it's like when you hook-up a Converter Box to your old TV. Pictures are so clear that you'll wonder why someone didn't figure this out before. Especially the Cable people... who are getting blown away by Free over-the-air HDTV.

About ten million Boxes have been made in the last ten months. Most do a great job converting, but much more to qualify for the $40 U.S. Government Coupon. Trouble is, most feel hurriedly mass produced to do things bureaucrats want them to.

Their Remotes have alerts, sleep, zoom, parental control, strength indicators, program guides and energy standards, but most can't turn the TV off. In fact, many fell like light-weight plastic gimmicks which won't last very long. Better Boxes, of course, have better everything.

Our Converter Boxes and Remote Controls

Digital TV Signal Converter Box Tests:
Antenna, Tools, Boxes, Remotes and Procedures

Converter Box Test Environmental Constants - Press for Control Tuner Detail

All Tests were conducted at the same home on the same antenna and TV.

A CE Labs HD100AQ Control Box monitored antenna signal strengths.

Every Box was subject to the same signal strengths.

Every Test was performed on every Box every day for 10 days.

In order to investigate/compare ten Converter Boxes for quality of reception in an environment of complex variables, we established a "standard" to which each test Box, grounded in its sheet metal factory case and attached to the same antenna, could be compared on the same TV screen.

Channels Used in Our Converter Box Tests

The 12 Channels we used here are further broken into 26 Multicast Channels
i.e. WUSF-DT channel 16 broadcasts programs on 16.1, 16.2, 16.3 and 16.4
Our "standard" consisted of 26 RF Channel divisions, received from due East on a fixed UHF antenna, being routed directly into a Control Box and a Converter Box simultaneously. We used ten such circuits, made of two Boxes connected between the same antenna and TV, for each test cycle.
Circuit Diagram and Notes from a 2 Hour Test Cycle of Ten Converter Boxes

Circuit Diagram and Notes from a 2 Hour Test Cycle of Ten Converter Boxes

Two component antenna inputs on the TV allowed us to switch between Boxes to compare their screen and stereo qualities. Fast switching accented the differences. Tests were performed at the same home by people of different ages at various times of day, including late-night hours, for ten days.

Signals were monitored for uniformity throughout each two hour test cycle consisting of each Converter Box being observed for 10 minutes, in random order, plus 2 minutes to reconnect between each. By switching the Control Box for a Converter Box we could directly compare 2 Converter Boxes.

Screen color, brightness and sound variations were rectified at the TV set. Each Converter Box tested was Made in China except the Channel Master CM-7000, which was Made in Bulgaria. All had similar features, for the most part, and a $40 Coupon could be used toward the purchase of each.

Response time to Remote Control varied by Converter Box. Most had aggravating sensitivity issues. They just didn't work very well. And, like newer TV's, they have only on-off and channel up-down buttons. Remote Control capability is critical. Likewise, most can't turn the TV off at night.

TEST RESULTS

Radio Shack's DigitalStream DTX9900 wins First Place! Its screen and stereo qualities, digital signal locking and friendly Remote Control are joys for everyone in the home.
Extremely user friendly. Easy everything! Amazing screen color detail. Perfect stereo. TV "Input" on Remote Control so cable/satellite users can easily switch to-from local HDTV; plus TV "on-off" switch and stereo volume control. Great tuning of mid-range multi-directional signals with one fixed antenna. Poor program guide.

Channel Master's CM-7000 is a very close Second. With 95% of the winner's qualities, it has a few extras to make up for what's lacking. It has a killer screen and Remote options.
Local channels on home TV have never been so beautiful! Very rich, well defined colors and sounds from rabbit ears! Can be controlled from anywhere in a large room but switching to a multicast channel requires scrolling because it has no decimal button. Great tuner for fixed antennas. Single channel program guides.

GE's 22729, with incredible distant-channel reception, takes Third. Powerful screen and stereo on all channels. User friendly Remote Controlled features. All channels program guide.
Best tuner for every TV on the farm. Locks-in weak signals perfectly. Intelligent remote controlled features but it must be aimed precisely at the Box. No built-in TV controls. This one is more of a "display" TV tuner than channel roulette box for family.

Zenith's DTT900 and Insignia NS-DXA1 tie for Fourth. Both have a sharp screen with brighter colors than most. Excellent Remote features but RF Channels 21 and 59 were untunable.
These are family Boxes! Easy for everyone. Good channel, volume, zoom, signal strength, menu, program guide and TV power buttons on the Remote, which works good when pointed anywhere near its Box. Recall button shows other channels strengths before you select one.

Access HD DTA1010D comes in Fifth. Positively perfect screen images and zooming control. But slow to respond to its weak 30 button Remote Control's aiming from across the room.
With so many good Converter Boxes on the market, why bother with these last five? Make no mistake, they produce incredible images and sounds, much better than Cable ever dreamed of, and each has something "special" to offer. But none perform as well as the five winners!

RCA's DTA800 and Venturer STB7766G tie for Sixth. Bright colors on sharp screens but both have problems with VHF RF Channels and sounds. Venturer's Tiny Boxes Not for Kids!

Magnavox's TB100MG9 is Seventh. Sharp screen lacking the colors of most. Only Box tested with pass-thru and combat ready Remote Control - kids can NOT break it or waste its batteries!

Last place goes the Tivax STB-T9. Poor design locks out its Remote Control signals almost completely. It has the same circuits as the Access HD but using them is nearly impossible!

Converter Box Manuals and Full Cycle Test Record

They Wrote 'em - We Complied!

NEXT YEAR TV BROADCASTS WILL BE DIGITAL-OVER-THE-AIR. Regular TV set tuners will no longer work. You'll need a Tuner/Converter Box for each TV using an antenna. Different tuners are described here. Some work good outside of town, some don't. Some on any channel, some don't! BUT...

FIRST YOU'LL NEED TO KNOW WHICH HDTV CHANNELS AND ANTENNAS WILL WORK AT YOUR PLACE near:
Abilene, Akron, Albany, Albany GA, Albuquerque, Alexandria, LA, Allentown, Amarillo, Anchorage, Asheville, Atlanta, Atlantic City, Auburn, Augusta, Bakersfield, Baltimore, Bangor, Baton Rouge, Bend, Billings, Birmingham, Bismarck, Bloomington, Bluefield, Boise, Boston, Boulder, Bowling Green, Branson, Buffalo, Burlington, Brownsville, Canton, Cape Cod, Cape Gerardo, Casper, Cedar Rapids, Champaign, Charleston SC, Charleston WV, Charlotte, Charlottesville, Chattanooga, Cheyenne, Chicago, Cincinnati, Clarksburg, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbia, Columbus GA, Columbus OH, Corpus Christi, Coos Bay, Dallas, Davenport, Dayton, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Dothan, Dover, Duluth, Durham, El Paso, Eugene, Evansville, Fairbanks, Fargo, Fayetteville, Flint, Flagstaff, Florence, Ft Lauderdale, Ft Myers, Ft Pierce, Ft Smith, Ft Wayne, Fresno, Gainesville, Grand Forks, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Greensboro, Greenville NC, Gulfport, Hartford, Harlingen, Harrisburg, Hartford, Hattiesburg, High Point, Hopkinsville, Honolulu, Houston, Huntington, Huntsville, Idaho Falls, Indianapolis, Jackson, Jacksonville, Johnstown, Joplin, Kansas City, Kearney, Key West, Kingsport, Knoxville, Lafayette LA, Lake Charles, Lansing, Laredo, Las Vegas, Lexington, Lincoln, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Lubbock, Macon, Madison, McAllen, Manchester, Memphis, Meridian, Miami, Midland, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Mobile, Monroe, Monterey, Montgomery, Morehead City, Morgantown, Myrtle Beach, Nashville, Naples, New Bern, New Haven, New London, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oakland, Ocala, Odessa, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Oxnard, Paducah, Panama City, Peoria, Pensacola, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland ME, Portland OR, Prescott, Providence, Raleigh, Rapid City, Reading, Reno, Richmond, Roanoke, Rochester, Rockford, Sacramento, Salisbury, Salt Lake City, San Angelo, San Antonio, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, St Joseph, St Petersburg, Savannah, Scranton, Seattle, Selma, Shreveport, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, South Bend, Spartanburg, Spokane, Springfield MA, Springfield MO, Springfield IL, St Paul, St Petersburg, Saint Louis, Syracuse, Tallahassee, Tampa Bay, Terre Haute, Trenton, Toledo, Topeka, Tri-Cities, Tuscaloosa, Tucson, Tulsa, Tupelo, Utica, Vermont, Vincennes, Virginia Beach, Waco, Washington DC, Waterbury, Waterloo, Watertown, West Palm Beach, Weston, Wichita, Wilmington NC, Winston-Salem, Yakima
MORE

New Multicast channels look like this...
during setup and tuning with a Converter Box.
Please Pardon Poor Photography

And these are NOT available on Cable or Satellite!
TV Guides are FREE on HDTV

Consumer Electronics Association on
How Many Sets Need Converter Boxes...
...currently only 32.7 million (or 11.5 percent) of the 285 million television sets used in the U.S. are used to view over-the-air television programming. The phenomenon is driven by the fact that television today is largely a wired (i.e., cable or satellite) service. By 2009, Consumer Electronics Association estimates that the percentage of American homes receiving their primary television over-the-air will be closer to 6.8 percent...

Actual 2008 Converter Box Coupon
Redemption Rate ...Press for Current Tables

The National Telecommunications & Information Administration says:
"As of July 16, 2008, NTIA has received requests from 10,920,249 households for 20,551,457 coupons, representing 77 percent of the initial base funding of $890 million. Coupon requests continue to average approximately 104,000 per day... Consumers have redeemed more than 6 million coupons toward the purchase of a coupon-eligible converter box..."

...that's $114.89 for each $40 Coupon paid out so far!

Wilmington, NC, Digital HDTV Area Test will start on September 8th, 2008...
New TV Airwaves: Cell phones and computers to Share New Airwaves...
History and Probability: Cable Plans a Bright Future for their Profits...
You Better Watch Out: Converter Box Fraud is already here...
Free HDTV in America